Turner leads No. 7 Texas over St. Francis 78-46

Texas forward Jonathan Holmes goes up for a layup against Saint Francis during the half of an NCAA college basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Michael Thomas)

Michael Thomas

November 25, 2014

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) While Texas figures out what to do at point guard, the Longhorns have the luxury of leaning on a frontcourt loaded with talent.

Freshman big man Myles Turner had 25 points and 10 rebounds while tying a school shooting record, and No. 7 Texas rolled over Saint Francis 78-46 on Tuesday night to push the Longhorns to 5-0 for the first time since 2009.

One of the top recruits in the country, Turner had been quiet in Texas' two previous wins. But he showed a confident touch on 11-of-12 shooting (92 percent) to go with his typical tough defense. He made three 3-pointers and had three of Texas' eight blocks.

Turner acknowledged he'd been frustrated by scoring just 10 points in the previous two games.

''I think tonight was a great bounce-back game for me,'' Turner said. ''It felt great to gain some confidence going into tougher competition.''

Cam Ridley added 16 points for the Longhorns.

Texas point guard Isaiah Taylor was on the bench with his left arm in a sling. Coach Rick Barnes said Taylor is out indefinitely with a broken wrist but should return later this season. Texas also played without Taylor's top backup, junior Javan Felix, who sat out with a sore left foot.

Texas won last week's 2K Classic tournament, but now faces the prospect of several weeks against stiffer competition without one of its most dynamic players in Taylor.

And losing Taylor means more than losing points. He was the speedy catalyst on the fast break, and his penetrating drives could draw defenders away from the frontcourt of Turner, Ridley and Jonathan Holmes.

The Longhorns have about five weeks - including matchups with Connecticut, Kentucky and Stanford - to figure things about before the start of Big 12 play in January.

Against Saint Francis, Texas paired Kendall Yancy and Demarcus Holland in the backcourt. Yancy scored 12 but didn't have any of Texas' 16 assists. Holland had four assists and four points.